The dark and disturbing film ‘You Were Never Really Here’ (2017), directed by British director Lynne Ramsay, immerses the viewer in a journey into the sordid underworld of New York City, inspired by the novel of the same name by Jonathan Ames. The plot follows Joe, a traumatized war veteran who is masterfully brought to life by Joaquin Phoenix, whose tWorking as a lonely and violent private investigator leads him to rescue young victims of sex trafficking. However, when an assignment takes him through a labyrinth of corruption and violence, Joe will try to fight for his own survival while he tries to redeem himself from his own demons. The film is currently available in the Prime Video catalog.
The film was critically acclaimed and received numerous awards and nominations. His time at the Cannes Festival resulted in two awards in the categories of Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Screenplay for the director Lynne Ramsay, although she did not manage to win the coveted Palme d’Or despite her nomination. At the British Academy of Film and Television Awards known as the BAFTA Awards, the film was nominated for Best British Film. In addition, it also received other awards at the Independent Spirit Awards, the British Independent Film Awards and the awards given by the Boston Film Critics Association.
Some of the technical highlights of the film are its direction and cinematography. Lynne Ramsay creates an oppressive and visceral atmosphere, using a combination of raw images and disturbing sounds to immerse the viewer in the disturbed mind of Joaquin Phoenix’s character. Editing also plays an important role, with quick, fragmented cuts that reflect the protagonist’s mental state and give more dynamism to the film. The soundtrack deserves special mention, composed by Jonny Greenwood, guitarist of the band Radiohead, which perfectly complements the intensity of the narrative.
The cast is headed by the Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix in a new masterful performance which earned him unanimous recognition from critics. Phoenix captures the anguish and restrained violence of her character sublimely, delivering one of the best performances of her career. The supporting cast includes talented but under-recognized actors such as Alessandro Nivola, John Doman, Judith Roberts and Alex Manette.
Fotogramas’ review of ‘You were never really here’ highlights her ability to freely draw inspiration from Jonathan Ames’s novel, “of which she discards all explanation and everything accessory and retains the skeleton, the drive and the anguish, the director does neither one thing nor the other. Better said: she does both at the same time. She relies on a broken and elliptical narrative, on the empty gaze of the former war veteran (Joaquin Phoenix) and on specific shocks of horror to turn her film into the forceful material expression of the protagonist’s mental processes.
